Rear spoilers serve to improve vehicle aerodynamics and can, accordingly, re-duce fuel consumption. They are fitted in the rear region of the vehicle and generally have air direction elements, which extend along the contours of the vehicle toward the rear, that is, with curved faces. Such rear spoilers can be secured to the roof or to the side walls.
DE 20 2009 014 476 U1, DE 20 2009 014 510 U1 and DE 20 2009 015 009 U1 describe rear spoiler embodiments in which the air direction elements or spoiler elements are displaceably or pivotably arranged in order to enable unimpeded opening of the door.
Pivotable or foldable rear spoilers are generally connected to the hinge of the rear door. DE 102 28 658 A1 describes different folding solutions in which planar faces, which can be pivoted by means of a hinge, are intended to enable an aerodynamic optimization in the travel region.
DE 10 2008 036 888 A1 describes embodiments of rear spoilers and connections to the vehicle, in which there is, inter alia, provision for there to be fitted between the rear door and the air direction element a carrier, which can be suspended for a substantially outwardly pivoted position of the door. When the rear flap is pivoted outward about the vertical pivot axis thereof, the air direction element is consequently first pivoted therewith until it reaches the outer faces of the side wall. When the rear flap is subsequently pivoted outward, the flexible carrier element is accordingly resiliently deformed.
Such connections of the air direction elements in the hinge region generally enable an adjustment of the air direction element between the rear door and the side wall when the rear door—as often provided in utility vehicles—is pivoted outward through 270° in order to secure it, for example, to the side wall.
Such systems are, however, generally very complex. They have, inter alia, complex articulation or hinge configurations. Furthermore, some rear spoiler systems only enable the use of relatively short air direction elements, whereby the improvement of the aerodynamics is limited.
Furthermore, the structural space in the hinge region of the rear door when the rear door is pivoted upward is very tight so that more complex rear spoiler configurations may impair the upward pivoting operation through 270°.